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My wife and I will be spending 5 full days in Maryland later this summer (6 nights).
We're planning to visit Baltimore and Annapolis.
Since Baltimore has more to do, the plan was to spend 3 days there and 2 days in Annapolis, but we can always change that. There are plenty of sites and museums we'd like to see in both cities.
A coworker who happened to hear me talking about Baltimore told me she strongly recommends I stay in Annapolis. She admits she's a little biased since she was born and raised just outside of Annapolis, but says that:
1. Annapolis is super safe, clean, quaint, and charming.
2. Baltimore is kind of boring, and that she wouldn't feel safe walking there (even in the Inner Harbor) at night.
3. She said walking around the "safer" areas of Baltimore in the daytime is fine.
The consensus (based on everything I've read online) seems to be that if I want to wander around later at night, I should not feel ill at ease to do so in Annapolis, but it's a different story for Baltimore.
If we were to book in Baltimore, we'd be as close to the Inner Harbor as possible, and we're planning to hit up Mount Vernon, Fells Point, Federal Hill, Camden, and maybe Little Italy.
I'm well aware that parts of Baltimore aren't safe, but is it fair for her to say that Baltimore is boring?
I imagined Annapolis being a little less exciting than Baltimore since there doesn't seem to be as much going on.
Any tips/suggestions appreciated.
Last edited by Wordsmith12; 07-03-2019 at 09:28 AM..
My wife and I will be spending 5 full days in Maryland later this summer (6 nights).
We're planning to visit Baltimore and Annapolis.
Since Baltimore has more to do, the plan was to spend 3 days there and 2 days in Annapolis, but we can always change that. There are plenty of sites and museums we'd like to see in both cities.
A coworker who happened to hear me talking about Baltimore told me she strongly recommends I stay in Annapolis. She admits she's a little biased since she was born and raised just outside of Annapolis, but says that:
1. Annapolis is super safe, clean, quaint, and charming.
2. Baltimore is kind of boring, and that she wouldn't feel safe walking there (even in the Inner Harbor) at night.
3. She said walking around the "safer" areas of Baltimore in the daytime is fine.
The consensus (based on everything I've read online) seems to be that if I want to wander around later at night, I should not feel ill at ease to do so in Annapolis, but it's a different story for Baltimore.
If we were to book in Baltimore, we'd be as close to the Inner Harbor as possible, and we're planning to hit up Mount Vernon, Fells Point, Federal Hill, Camden, and maybe Little Italy.
I'm well aware that parts of Baltimore aren't safe, but is it fair for her to say that Baltimore is boring?
I imagined Annapolis being a little less exciting than Baltimore since there doesn't seem to be as much going on.
Any tips/suggestions appreciated.
What is more your style, staying in a skyscraper type hotel that gives you a great view of a densely populated urban area on the water? Or a historic colonial area time capsule that looks much like it would have in 1750?
As mentioned before, the biggest advantage for choosing to stay in Baltimore is that you have a 'home base' that is very easy (and safer) to come and go from to see different parts of the city. Driving into Baltimore is much more of a hassle than dropping into Annapolis for a day.
What is more your style, staying in a skyscraper type hotel that gives you a great view of a densely populated urban area on the water? Or a historic colonial area time capsule that looks much like it would have in 1750?
As mentioned before, the biggest advantage for choosing to stay in Baltimore is that you have a 'home base' that is very easy (and safer) to come and go from to see different parts of the city. Driving into Baltimore is much more of a hassle than dropping into Annapolis for a day.
Thanks for your reply.
I don't necessarily have a preference for one over the other, though Annapolis sounds -- and looks -- like a unique city for sure.
As long as there's a city vibe (unlike Williamsburg, VA, which I found dull), I could go either way.
We would be using Uber to get around.
Last edited by Wordsmith12; 07-03-2019 at 10:38 AM..
I don't necessarily have a preference for one over the other, though Annapolis sounds -- and looks -- like a unique city for sure.
As long as there's a city vibe (unlike Williamsburg, VA, which I found dull), I could go either way.
We would be using Uber to get around.
No, no, Annapolis isn't a make-believe city. It is a real town that happens to be very well preserved.
My wife just got back from a weekend there with her college friends. She stayed at the Westin Hotel, right on the edge of the historic area. They walked around the historic downtown all day and into the early night time hours. No problems.
I always enjoyed staying in hotels in the Inner Harbor as a kid and young adult too, so I don't think you can go wrong. It is more just your preference.
A coworker who happened to hear me talking about Baltimore told me she strongly recommends I stay in Annapolis. She admits she's a little biased since she was born and raised just outside of Annapolis, but says that:
1. Annapolis is super safe, clean, quaint, and charming.
2. Baltimore is kind of boring, and that she wouldn't feel safe walking there (even in the Inner Harbor) at night.
3. She said walking around the "safer" areas of Baltimore in the daytime is fine.
The consensus (based on everything I've read online) seems to be that if I want to wander around later at night, I should not feel ill at ease to do so in Annapolis, but it's a different story for Baltimore.
I agree with your coworker.
Probably the easiest way of doing it would be to just get a hotel in Baltimore for the time you're there, then get a hotel in Annapolis for the time you're there. But if you want to use a single hotel for a base of operations, I recommend Annapolis. That way, you can pop up to Baltimore for the day, do your sightseeing, then go back to Annapolis in the evening. I think you'll find that walking around Annapolis at night feels safer than walking around Baltimore at night. I know I do. Besides, it sounds like everything that you want to see in Baltimore would be stuff that is only open in the daytime anyway.
If you aren't going to rent a car, you could use the MTA Bus Route 210 to commute from Annapolis up to Baltimore for the day and then return in the evening.
The downtown stop at Church Circle & School Street is within walking distance of all downtown Annapolis hotels. (From the Westin, which is at the edge of the historic district, it would be about a 15 minute walk.) Or, if you want to avail yourself of the greater frequency of service at Westfield Mall (which is on the opposite end of Annapolis from downtown), you could connect there via the Annapolis Transit Green Route:
We've opted to stay in Annapolis. I think it's the better choice given that (1) I love history and (2) it's safer than Baltimore.
We've even picked out our hotel already -- a property that's a mere 0.4 miles from the city center.
The flight times into BWI are few, and the ones available are in the late afternoon and at night. We'll be taking a morning flight into Ronald Reagan instead, which ends up being cheaper anyway.
My wife and I will be spending 5 full days in Maryland later this summer (6 nights).
We're planning to visit Baltimore and Annapolis.
Since Baltimore has more to do, the plan was to spend 3 days there and 2 days in Annapolis, but we can always change that. There are plenty of sites and museums we'd like to see in both cities.
A coworker who happened to hear me talking about Baltimore told me she strongly recommends I stay in Annapolis. She admits she's a little biased since she was born and raised just outside of Annapolis, but says that:
1. Annapolis is super safe, clean, quaint, and charming.
2. Baltimore is kind of boring, and that she wouldn't feel safe walking there (even in the Inner Harbor) at night.
3. She said walking around the "safer" areas of Baltimore in the daytime is fine.
The consensus (based on everything I've read online) seems to be that if I want to wander around later at night, I should not feel ill at ease to do so in Annapolis, but it's a different story for Baltimore.
If we were to book in Baltimore, we'd be as close to the Inner Harbor as possible, and we're planning to hit up Mount Vernon, Fells Point, Federal Hill, Camden, and maybe Little Italy.
I'm well aware that parts of Baltimore aren't safe, but is it fair for her to say that Baltimore is boring?
I imagined Annapolis being a little less exciting than Baltimore since there doesn't seem to be as much going on.
Any tips/suggestions appreciated.
Sounds like you already made your choice, but would still like to offer my input:
1. It is; but primarily only in the historic downtown area. Depending on which direction you venture out from the historic district you will either find Annapolis basic and boring or full of prostitution, drug dealing, and other crimes.
Annapolis is small compared to Baltimore. At least Baltimore has entire neighborhoods (most often chained together) that are safe but also has more buffer zones from the grime and crime.
2. Baltimore is anything but boring, that is for sure. Is it dangerous? Yeah, in places and in places that you would likely not go even in the day light let alone at night. There are definitely parts of Annapolis that I would not want to walk around at night, either.
3. Of course it is, but you don't have to put safer in quotation marks because the safer areas of Baltimore are just as safe as any safe area is of any large U.S. city. The reality is that aside from accidentally being dropped off in a wrong neighborhood where ever you end up roaming around at night is very likely to be in the same areas where others like you are also walking around. Most likely you'll just have to deal with drunk 20-something college students.
With that, no, it is not fair of your co-worker to say that Baltimore is boring. It is hands-down one of the most fudged up places I have ever seen but it is also one of the coolest. What's bad about it is really bad but what's good about it is awesomely cool. It has a terrific arts scene including music, poetry, etc. and its restaurants will blow Annapolis away, too.
Annapolis is cool if you are a politician, Naval Academy student/prospect, or a from-money white person who secretly wishes he/she was from Connecticut but can't ever actually live in Connecticut because they don't want anyone to mistake them for a Yankee.
Annapolis is cool if you are a politician, Naval Academy student/prospect, or a from-money white person who secretly wishes he/she was from Connecticut but can't ever actually live in Connecticut because they don't want anyone to mistake them for a Yankee.
Thanks for your valued input.
Someone made a good point in an earlier post: That the places we'd visiting in Baltimore will all be closed at night, so there's really no point in staying there anyway.
My main reason for wanting to visit areas like Fells Point and Federal Hill? The buildings/architecture, photos of which look much better in broad daylight.
Originally, we thought of booking a hotel near the Harbor, but at the end of the day, it's mostly a bunch of chain restaurants and big box retailers.
I'd rather we stay in area that exudes historic charm, and Annapolis seems to win on that score.
I also thought about staying near downtown/Mount Vernon in Baltimore given the beautiful architecture, but I read it can get a little sketchy at night, so I'd rather not stay there.
My wife and I spent the weekend hashing out an itinerary.
We plan to stay in Annapolis and get around via Uber.
We would arrive Saturday and stay in Annapolis the whole day.
Sunday would be in Baltimore, Monday in Annapolis, Tuesday and Wednesday in Baltimore, and Thursday in Annapolis. We would check out early Friday morning.
The reason for the back-and-forth between cities is because some historic sites are only open certain days (e.g. weekends only), so it's the only way we can give ourselves an opportunity to see all (or most) of them.
Annapolis is about an hour away from Reagan Airport, so that's 2 hours of driving time right there.
Baltimore is about 45 mins from Annapolis. Given that we would be taking 3 trips to/from Baltimore, that's about 4.5 hours combined.
So, we're looking at 6.5 to 7 hours spent in Uber rides alone. Yikes.
I wish there were a way we could cut down on the time spent in a car. It's not made easier by the fact that the cities aren't super close to one another.
We could try staying in Baltimore and allocating only one day for Annapolis, but I don't think I could do everything on our list in a single day: State House, Paca House, Carroll House, Hammond-Harwood, two churches, and walk around St. John's and the Navy Yard, or can I?
This is a tough one to plan!
Last edited by Wordsmith12; 07-08-2019 at 03:32 PM..
My wife and I spent the weekend hashing out an itinerary.
We plan to stay in Annapolis and get around via Uber.
We would arrive Saturday and stay in Annapolis the whole day.
Sunday would be in Baltimore, Monday in Annapolis, Tuesday and Wednesday in Baltimore, and Thursday in Annapolis. We would check out early Friday morning.
The reason for the back-and-forth between cities is because some historic sites are only open certain days (e.g. weekends only), so it's the only way we can give ourselves an opportunity to see all (or most) of them.
Annapolis is about an hour away from Reagan Airport, so that's 2 hours of driving time right there.
Baltimore is about 45 mins from Annapolis. Given that we would be taking 3 trips to/from Baltimore, that's about 4.5 hours combined.
So, we're looking at 6.5 to 7 hours spent in Uber rides alone. Yikes.
I wish there were a way we could cut down on the time spent in a car. It's not made easier by the fact that the cities aren't super close to one another.
We could try staying in Baltimore and allocating only one day for Annapolis, but I don't think I could do everything on our list in a single day: State House, Paca House, Carroll House, Hammond-Harwood, two churches, and walk around St. John's and the Navy Yard, or can I?
This is a tough one to plan!
Well, that is a lot of traveling back and forth on roads with nothing to see. Expect plenty of traffic since you will be driving mostly on commuter type routes between the two cities. I think you will paying a good bit of money for you, your wife, and your Uber driver to be stuck in traffic.
I would seriously consider staying in Baltimore during the days you want to do stuff in that city, then stay in Annapolis for the other days. Yes, you may miss an attraction or two, but that part of Maryland generally isn't one that you can just look at a map, estimate a drive time, and just do it. You have to plan around rush hour, or rush hours as it is better to think of them. Hopefully the posters who live closer to this region will tell you my fears are off base and you will be able to make the trips in 45 minutes on most days.
The other option is to pick the top 2-3 things in the city you have less interest in, and make one day trip to see them. Just my .02, but you said earlier that you wanted a walkable, relaxed type vacation, and your itinerary isn't that at all......it is a "stuck in a car for a few hours almost every day" type vacation.
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